The Daily Poem

HOMECOMING

I'm back in my room and it looks the same,

Except for the mirror—unsure of my name.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem713

Epigram

Idyllwild, California

Lat: 33 44 N; Long: 116 41 W.

JOURNAL: Home!

~ The Daily Poet

SPEAK THE LIGHT

Speak the light you know you know,

And let the hocus-pocus go.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem698

Epigram

Inside Passage at Bella Bella, British Columbia, Canada

Lat: Long:

JOURNAL: M/V Matanuska (2nd Night)

~ The Daily Poet

DARK CIRCLES

Late to bed and early to rise,

Leaves dark circles under the eyes.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem690

Epigram

Oak Harbor, Washington

Lat: 48' 17.6" N, Long: 122' 38.6" W

JOURNAL: Ivan & Virginia Lathrop's House

~ The Daily Poet

JANUARY SIX

Its January six two thousand twelve,

A day to dive and dredge, to dig and delve;

To find, to clean, to catalogue and shelve.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem683

Epigram

Maui, Hawaii

Lat: Long:

JOURNAL: Ocean Princess (11th Night)

~ The Daily Poet

DOME

The lights in the ceiling of the sky are not the stars;

The thoughts in my head are someone else's scars.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem679

Epigram

At Sea, bound for Hawaii

Lat: Long:

JOURNAL: Ocean Princess (7th Night)

~ The Daily Poet

THE INFINITE COASTLINE

The smaller the oar, the more you explore;

The closer you measure, the greater the treasure.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem640

Epigram

Arafura Sea

JOURNAL: Ocean Princess (14th Night)

~ The Daily Poet

UTENSILS

Body the fork, and mind the knife;

The bowl of the soul is the spoon of a wife.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem635

Epigram

Java Sea

JOURNAL: Ocean Princess (9th NIght)

~ The Daily Poet

FLYING FISH

The smaller the fish, the farther it flies;

The larger the wish, the harder it dies.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem632

Epigram

Phu My, Vietnam

JOURNAL: Ocean Princess (6th Night)

~ The Daily Poet

HOVERING ELLIPSIS

The hovering ellipsis on Beijing

Suggests it's not a finished thing.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem580

Epigram

Beijing, China

JOURNAL: Dongfang Hotel (1)

~ The Daily Poet

NO BLUES

Blue sky, blue sea;

No blues for me.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem551

Epigram

Parikia, Paros Island, Greece

JOURNAL: Stratos Apartments

~ The Daily Poet

HOLD FAST

It's all in the configuration of the parts

That keeps the engine running once it starts.

D. Edgar Lamp

TheDailyPoem550

Epigram

Athens, Greece

JOURNAL: Minoa Athens Hotel

~ The Daily Poet

BOOBS AT THE LOUVRE

How many boobs

At the Louvre

(Don't stare!)

Are there?

D. Edgar Lamp

The Daily Poem - 526

Epigram

Paris, France

Lat: 48.86, Long: 2.35

JOURNAL: Dider & VAlerie Guy's B&B

~ The Daily Poet

WORD MADE FLESH

Be still and know that silence is your best defense,

Because the Word made flesh defies your common sense.

D. Edgar Lamp

The Daily Poem - 388

Epigram

St. Ann's, Trinidad & Tobago

Lat: 10.67, Long: -61.52

JOURNAL: Samise Villa Bed & Breakfast

Mimi made hash browns, cheezy eggs, and sliced cucumber for breakfast.  Spent a bit of time online before heading down to Grand Anse Beach.  Suddenly we found ourselves sharing the beach with the $360 per night people, feeling fine about our $60 per night room.  What a beautiful beach, and Grand Anse Bay was clear as crystal.  We came upon an equipment rental shack with a kayak sitting outside.  I rented it for an hour and paddled out onto the Bay, the only kayaker in sight.  I had the whole watery world to myself.  Walked back to our room and packed up.  Our taxi driver picked us at 1700.  Our flight left just after the sun set.  We flew up over the tops of the clouds, with a bright red glow along the western sky.  Landed in Port of Spain 33 minutes later; bright lights, big city, friendly customs official.  Nothing what I expected.  Denise from Samise picked us up and drove us to her B&B.  She and her husband, Sam, started it seven years ago.  The name of the B&B is a combination of their names: Sam + Denise = Samise.  Exchange rate $6.27 TT per US dollar.  We paid $60 TT for some KFC at the airport.  We checked out of room 7 at Rohanthon and checked into room 7 at Samise.  We have strong WiFi and a TV with Direct TV channels.  What a luxury!

~ The Daily Poet

PHOTO OP

My picture's on the fridge

Of this Caribbean isle;

I think I'll stay a while.

D. Edgar Lamp

The Daily Poem - 369

Epigram

Marigot, Dominica

Lat: 15.54, Long: -61.27

JOURNAL: Rashawna's House

Breakfast at Rosalie Bay Resort.  Said our farewells and took a group photo with the restaurant staff Melissa, Maudrina, Leoma, Seraphine, and Amelia.  Paid our final bill and said goodbye to Jan, the hotel manager.  What an amazing place!  It's definitely the coolest spot we've seen in the Lesser Antilles. Off the grid and gorgeous, with a wind turbine on the hill providing 70% of the electricity. 22 acres of Caribbean paradise. If you ever come to Doiminica you must spend at least a couple nights at Rosalie Bay. The rooms are spacious with every ammenity you could want. The restaurant menu is close-your-eyes-and-point delicious. And everyone we met whether at the main office, the restaurant, the spa, or on the grounds was cheerful and friendly, obviously as happy as to be there as we were. Rosalie Bay is the place to stay!  Marvin, who is in charge of purchasing at Rosalie Bay, drove us to Rashawna's house in Marigot.  He drove West up past the World Heritage Site to Pont Casse, a major junction that the locals call "the roundabout".  From there he turned North through the Central Forest Reserve down into Carib Territory, through Salybia and Bataka to Pagua Bay and on up to Marigot.  A funny thing happened on the way.  About 20 minutes from town a lady flagged us down for a ride.  Marvin hesitated since we were paying for the ride, but I told him it was OK with us if he picked her up.  Her name was Zilma, and was a teacher.

"What grades?"  Mimi asked.

"Primary." she said.

"The primary school in Marigot?" asked Mimi

"Yes."

"Do you know Rashawna?"

"Rashawna! Yes!  You are Rashawna's mother?! Zilma laughed delightedly.

How strange to have picked up a random person by the side of the road who knew Rashawna.  There was supposed to be a pageant at the Will Strathmore Steven's Primary School, where six grade school girls would be competing to be the school's princess for Carnival.  So we took the 30-minute walk along the coast to the school.  Along the way Rashawna was greeted by many locals, and introduced us as her parents.  Everyone was so pleased to meet us.  On the way we stopped by Marcus and Stacey's house.  He's a Peace Corp Volunteer and she's his finance.  Stacey invited us in and showed us the rabbit in the bathtub.  Marcus was out back building a hutch for it.  We went out back to meet Marcus and he showed us around his extensive garden: cabbage, oregano, parsley, bananas, cucumbers, tomatos, lettuce, and more.  He said he'd never grown anything before coming to Dominica.  "Things grow easily here." he said.  Rashawna showed us around her library.  The pageant was running late so we decided to walk back home and eat, then come back later.  We had some Mac&Cheese, but wanted to celebrate Rashawna's birthday somehow, and walked down to the Pagua Bay Bar & Grill for coffee and cheese cake.  We met  the owners Rick & Alicia Davison who came to Dominica for a 4-day trip and ended up staying.  They've been here how for five years.  They have a delightfully American Bar & Grill and are in the process of building a small hotel.  Nice people.

By the time we left it was after nine, and we decided to skip the pageant and go home to bed.  We took hot showers and climbed into the blue sheets under a mosquito net canopy.

~ The Daily Poet

BREAKFAST EPIGRAM

If you are what you eat,

You've got me beat.

written in Orlando, Florida

for Rashawna Chapman in Dominica,

trumping my Corn Chex with her Raisin Bran

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

FIRST SIGHT

The words come in and play their image on my screen,

And so I see the things I never would have seen.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

UPWARD MOBILITY

You'll end up where you should,

If you start from where you're good.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

http://www.duck-artshop.com/acatalog/UpwardMobility.jpg" alt="See full size image" height="80" style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: 1px solid; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 10px 10px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px solid" />

"Upward Mobility" by Ken Rose

http://www.duck-artshop.com/acatalog/Ken_Rose.html

STREAMING

If I had a time travel dreaming canoe,

I'd time paddle back up to streaming with you.

On a North-to-South U.S. 101 Ride, Oregon

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hwy50/images/US_101.gif" alt="See full size image" height="80" style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: 1px solid; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 10px 10px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px solid" />

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_101_in_Oregon

RECITAL

She's learned to play it wrong so well,

I've promised not to tell.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)